Seriously – if you can’t do it right, just don’t do it at all. This is definitely a stab piece against dog breeders, but not for the reasons you’re probably thinking. I’m not here to condemn dog breeders or spout the “adopt don’t shop” religion. The few good, responsible breeders that exist have my full support and respect. Of my five dogs, two were purchased from breeders, and I will most certainly buy from breeders again. I like knowing my dogs’ bloodlines, and I will pay the money for a dog with health clearances. There are plenty of reasons to get a puppy from a breeder (though there are also plenty of reasons not to, as well).

Rugby (he’s so frigging handsome, isn’t he?)

Delaney

So what am I bitching about here? The breeders who don’t do their jobs. The breeders who just take their deposits and hand puppies off…

When children are little, “no” will come to them easily enough, the way “no” often does. Kids revel in their newfound autonomy, in what they will or won’t do, what they want or don’t want to happen, what they like and don’t like. It’s easy for a child to say “no,” the word bursting from their lips like a bomb, a cataclysmic, definitive answer. They are the masters of their own hands and feet, their own bellies, their own eyes, their own bodies.

But somewhere along the line as we grow up, we say it a little more softly. We learn that our “no” doesn’t amount to much.

As time goes on and we grow up, “no” becomes more nuanced and weighted. As adults, there are far more complex things that factor into why someone would ignore another person’s “no”, but really, it should be simple, especially when it comes…